Queens wont budge on fish farm

CANADA - The Region of Queens is sticking to its guns despite repeated assurances from a fish farm that its proposed salmon operation will not hurt Port Mouton Bay.

"Council didn’t waiver," Coun. Darlene Norman said after municipal council listened to a presentation from an owner of Aqua Fish Farms, then questioned him for about 90 minutes. "We still hold fast to our belief there is no room for this (salmon farm) in the future of that bay," Ms. Norman said.

Council wrote Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Ron Chisholm this past summer expressing unanimous opposition to the farm, and Queens MLA Vicki Conrad has presented an 1,800-name petition to the legislature from local people who are against the project.

Aqua co-owner Chris Saulnier, who held two public meetings in Port Mouton this week besides the meeting with council, said residents have some legitimate issues but many other concerns are unfounded.

Aqua, which has had an eight-hectare salmon farm off nearby Spectacle Islands since 1995, is seeking government approval for a 29-hectare operation in Port Mouton Bay.

But residents and lobster fishermen worry it will spoil the pristine beaches in the area, hurt tourism and damage lobster stocks.

"Port Mouton Bay is unique in Nova Scotia," Ms. Norman said. It borders on national and provincial parks and a dune and wetland system for which the municipality is seeking protected status, and its waters wash up on pristine beaches that include White Point and Summerville.